Mank, you really don??t want volatile oil prices as a consumer. It wreaks havoc with traffic and long lines.
Frankly, I want gas to hit $6 a gallon ?? and not to punish those that purchased gas guzzling SUVs to haul stuff around once a month. And I??m not saying it to be selfish for having a fuel efficient car.
The reality is that the higher gas goes, the worse the future is for counties that rely on oil revenue to prop up their economies. Sadly, only Saudi Arabia gets this (and arguably the UAE). They haven??t forgotten that after 1973 when the largest gas consuming countries were hit with steep market increases in crude, those countries sought out alternative sources ?? some home grown (drilling in Alaska), some from friendlier neighbors (the North Sea). Car manufacturers started making more fuel efficient cars as a result, and congress acted by passing fuel conservation measures (lowering the speed limit, for example). This sent the price of gas tumbling and along with it the economies of those countries that rely on oil. This led to revolutions in some of the oil producing countries by the younger generation that want a new future that is not dependent on oil. Of course, it also displeased the fundamentalists that brought us Al-Qaeda, but to a smaller extent.
The higher the price of gas goes in this decade, the more likely the American people are to seek an alternative. Sure some in the current administration want to find another source for crude in our backyard or beneath our ocean, but all that does is push off the inevitable for 20 or 30 more years (or some argue 15). We even asked the Saudi??s to increase production! If this continues, we??ll be right back to this point again - at some point they will realize that we??re dealing with a finite resource. Instead, as the price skyrockets and momentum gains to seek home grown alternatives and diversify our reliance on one source, the implications on our foreign policy are the true great reward, far outweighing the environment (but the environment is an easier sell to the American people).
Our best offense on Iran is not Israeli planes, but finding alternatives to their hold on fuel and thus shorting their influence in the region. Our best chance for a democracy in Iran is not a repeat of Iraq, but exposing the fraud that their economy is vibrant. It relies on one thing ?? oil. Only then will we see a true revolution in Iran.
